Warning: I'm going to make a very bold claim.

Here's How You Can:

Quickly Become An Authority Figure ..

Establish New Relationships...

Build a Bigger Optin List or Downline

Get More Clients and Customers

And Crush Your Competitors!

It's a tall order but I'm up for the challenge...

One small word....

BLOG!

I've been recommending to setup blogs in addition to their websites to enhance their marketing for a couple of years now. This past year however, I've suggested they choose to setup and use a blog 'instead' of a typical 'static' website and here's why...

1. Blogs are simple to setup and inexpensive to maintain. No Technical or HTML skills are required.

2. When done correctly, blogs are updated frequently with fresh content so search engines love them.

3. Blogs allow your readers to write comments and interact which helps you to reach out and form new relationships.

4. If you choose to write about a topic that relates to your business that you are knowledgeable about , you will help to brand yourself and position yourself as an authority on the subject.

I could go on and on about the benefits of blogs but the main point I want to get across here is that blogs are now mainstream and a fantastic opportunity for new leads so you should start thinking seriously about blogging.

A little history lesson...

A Blog is simply an online journal, that is organized in chronological order.

They normally focus on a single topic or theme and allow visitors to add comments which creates an interactive dialog between the blog owner and visitors.

But they weren't always called blogs.

Online journaling was first introduced to the Internet in 1994 and was later called 'a weblog', a term coined by Jorn Barger in 1997. At that time, people used it for nothing more than a way to pen their thoughts - or to talk about a favorite hobby for example.

The late 1990's saw a gradual popularity and increased interest in writing online diaries and journals. This was primarily driven by the new programs that came on the scene such as Blogger.com that made it easy for anyone to create their own weblog.

More than a decade has passed and as Web 2.0 is now a main stream trend and people are becoming more savvy to technology, a new, rapidly growing breed of bloggers has been born.

Blogging Today...

Blogging has become a 'global' phenomenon!

Technorati.com, which is the leading blog search engine, states it is currently tracking over 112 million blogs worldwide!

Technorati has been conducting annual studies on blogging since 2004.

Their recent report, the 'State of the Blogoshere', can be found on their website and it's a great resource. Now I'm just going to point out a few key highlights of the report but its pretty detailed so if you happen to be interested in trends and stats like I am, then I recommend you check it out.

In June 2008, Technorati tracked blogs in 81 languages and bloggers from 66 countries. Bloggers are collectively creating close to one million blog posts every day.

Needless to say, blogging is here to stay.

In a specific section of their report, the What and Why of Blogging, it mentions professional and business bloggers.

It states that:

- the majority of corporate and professional bloggers have seen a positive impact as a result of their blog. Half are now better known in their industry.
- Blogging has brought many unique opportunities to these bloggers that otherwise would not have been available.
- One in four have been invited to participate in an event as a result of their blog
- one in five have contributed to a print publication as a result of their blog
- and almost as many have found themselves on TV and/or on the radio.

I hope by now you understand the benefits and impact blogging can have on your own business. Businesses, small and large, are increasingly adding blogs to their marketing repertoire. Search Engines love them...peope love to read them. Internet Marketers are

- branding themselves better
- generating more web site traffic
- building larger optin lists and downlines
- gaining new clients and customers
- and increasing their sales all through the magic of Blogging.

Happy Blogging,

Rhonda Crosby